Film Review: Anatomy of a Loss

The Broncos lost in completely devastating fashion against the St. Louis Rams. What went wrong? And how did they score? MHH Editor-in-Chief Luc Polglaze takes you through the game.

This season, each and every week, I will bring you a film review article, exclusively for Mile High Huddle. Every touchdown that the Broncos score will be broken down for you. Here. On Mile High Huddle.

All images from NFL Game Rewind.

As the Broncos only scored once against St. Louis, here is a comprehensive breakdown of what they failed to do against the Rams. And the TD. Because we can’t forget that.

Broncos Defense Against Rams Offense

Tre Mason had a fantastic day, which was aided by a down performance from the Denver defense. Mostly, this was sparked by inconsistent and sloppy play from the defense. Pro Football Focus credits the defense with 10 missed tackles on the day, which feels more than accurate. In fact, that’s the most MT for Denver since the Week 3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, which saw the Broncos miss 13 tackles.

All too often, the Broncos would have Mason contained for little-to-no-gain. Then, he would force a missed tackle and be gone. Take this play, for instance, which saw Quinton Carter do a great job of coming across the field to make a play, only to fail to wrap up on a tackle at the line of scrimmage. Mason picked up 15 yards on the play. Credit Mason for flashing his dominant running style, but the Denver defense has to tackle better.

The Broncos defense also failed to just execute their assignments in the passing game. On the early Shaun Hill strike to Kenny Britt, Aqib Talib looked to be expecting help over top from a safety. Yet, there was nobody in sight. Talib has to perform better than that.

Broncos Offense Against Rams Defense

The Rams were able to generate pressure by using blitz stunts from Robert Quinn, who dominated the Broncos on this front. On the following two plays, watch him loop to the A gap. On the first, he is picked up well by C.J. Anderson. Although Manning is sacked, the damage is limited…relatively. On the second, a fantastic stunt against 5-man protection, he comes free and creates immediate havoc in the Denver backfield.

Manning did not seem to have his usual aplomb with audibles. Take this, the first play from scrimmage. It looks like a Cover 2, but the Rams have 7 in the box, which means the weakside FS is going to have to come down on Welker. Cover 1 zone, but with a VERY wide D-line alignment. Look at all that space in the box. Manning easily could have audibled to a run. The short pass left to Julius Thomas was ineffective and didn’t take advantage of the defense.

The Broncos also have to stop going to an empty backfield on third-and-short. Third and three should automatically have an RB in the backfield. The threat of a run needs to be there, at the very least.

As I said immediately following the game, Peyton did not play well.

He led receivers on dangerously, leading to a concussion for Sanders and another hard hit to the midsection on Caldwell. Those are balls that Manning has to know better than to throw.

He also targets Tamme too much. Tamme saw ten balls thrown his way and only caught four. Tamme should not be the target option on the 3rd and 9; 3rd and 10; 3rd and 3; and 2nd and 18 plays that saw just that. On those four plays, Manning was 0/4 with one interception.

Manning played what was arguably his worst game as a Bronco. He failed to make adequate audibles, and had dangerous decisions, laying out Sanders and Caldwell. His accuracy was spotty, at best. This is a routine throw for Julius Thomas that Manning has made hundreds of times. There is no pressure, and he just fails to put the throw on target.

I think this game also showed the Broncos that Jacob Tamme isn’t a starting-quality TE. If the Broncos want to rely on him in an extended manner moving forward, they’re going to have problems. He is a shoddy blocker and just isn’t worth targeting as much as Manning did. Manning also never had a chance to actually push the ball and took the short throws far too much.

Writer Cian Fahey sums up the game and Manning’s performance very succinctly by saying:

Can't remember seeing another game when Manning forced the ball to his first read underneath so often.

The Broncos have 3 receivers wide open when Manning releases the ball. That’s the only time that happened all game. Sanders simply splits the corner and safety in Cover 2 for an easy score. This is just a breakdown in coverage, as the safety comes up to take Welker away underneath.

The Broncos have 3 receivers wide open when Manning releases the ball. That’s the only time that happened all game. Sanders simply splits the corner and safety in Cover 2 for an easy score. This is just a breakdown in coverage, as the safety comes up to take Welker away underneath.

Next Story:

This season, each and every week, I will bring you a film review article, exclusively for Mile High Huddle. Every touchdown that the Broncos score will be broken down for you. Here. On Mile High Huddle.

All images from NFL Game Rewind.

As the Broncos only scored once against St. Louis, here is a comprehensive breakdown of what they failed to do against the Rams. And the TD. Because we can’t forget that.

Tre Mason had a fantastic day, which was aided by a down performance from the Denver defense. Mostly, this was sparked by inconsistent and sloppy play from the defense. Pro Football Focus credits the defense with 10 missed tackles on the day, which feels more than accurate. In fact, that’s the most MT for Denver since the Week 3 loss to the Seattle Seahawks, which saw the Broncos miss 13 tackles.

All too often, the Broncos would have Mason contained for little-to-no-gain. Then, he would force a missed tackle and be gone. Take this play, for instance, which saw Quinton Carter do a great job of coming across the field to make a play, only to fail to wrap up on a tackle at the line of scrimmage. Mason picked up 15 yards on the play. Credit Mason for flashing his dominant running style, but the Denver defense has to tackle better.

The Broncos defense also failed to just execute their assignments in the passing game. On the early Shaun Hill strike to Kenny Britt, Aqib Talib looked to be expecting help over top from a safety. Yet, there was nobody in sight. Talib has to perform better than that.

The Rams were able to generate pressure by using blitz stunts from Robert Quinn, who dominated the Broncos on this front. On the following two plays, watch him loop to the A gap. On the first, he is picked up well by C.J. Anderson. Although Manning is sacked, the damage is limited…relatively. On the second, a fantastic stunt against 5-man protection, he comes free and creates immediate havoc in the Denver backfield.

Manning did not seem to have his usual aplomb with audibles. Take this, the first play from scrimmage. It looks like a Cover 2, but the Rams have 7 in the box, which means the weakside FS is going to have to come down on Welker. Cover 1 zone, but with a VERY wide D-line alignment. Look at all that space in the box. Manning easily could have audibled to a run. The short pass left to Julius Thomas was ineffective and didn’t take advantage of the defense.

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The Broncos also have to stop going to an empty backfield on third-and-short. Third and three should automatically have an RB in the backfield. The threat of a run needs to be there, at the very least.

As I said immediately following the game, Peyton did not play well.

He led receivers on dangerously, leading to a concussion for Sanders and another hard hit to the midsection on Caldwell. Those are balls that Manning has to know better than to throw.

He also targets Tamme too much. Tamme saw ten balls thrown his way and only caught four. Tamme should not be the target option on the 3rd and 9; 3rd and 10; 3rd and 3; and 2nd and 18 plays that saw just that. On those four plays, Manning was 0/4 with one interception.

Luc Polglaze,

Manning played what was arguably his worst game as a Bronco. He failed to make adequate audibles, and had dangerous decisions, laying out Sanders and Caldwell. His accuracy was spotty, at best. This is a routine throw for Julius Thomas that Manning has made hundreds of times. There is no pressure, and he just fails to put the throw on target.

I think this game also showed the Broncos that Jacob Tamme isn’t a starting-quality TE. If the Broncos want to rely on him in an extended manner moving forward, they’re going to have problems. He is a shoddy blocker and just isn’t worth targeting as much as Manning did. Manning also never had a chance to actually push the ball and took the short throws far too much.

Writer Cian Fahey sums up the game and Manning’s performance very succinctly by saying:

Can't remember seeing another game when Manning forced the ball to his first read underneath so often.

The Broncos have 3 receivers wide open when Manning releases the ball. That’s the only time that happened all game. Sanders simply splits the corner and safety in Cover 2 for an easy score. This is just a breakdown in coverage, as the safety comes up to take Welker away underneath.